Trying to describe polytheism is a difficult enterprise because the whole system can be seen as a complex structure, each element of which (a deity with its proper name) is both itself a complex set of ... [more ▼]

Trying to describe polytheism is a difficult enterprise because the whole system can be seen as a complex structure, each element of which (a deity with its proper name) is both itself a complex set of prerogatives, and at the same time, must be considered in concert with the other elements. After a brief historiographical overview, this paper focuses on the first aspect by using the notion of ‘network’ as a metaphor to refer to the complexity of the ancient Greek gods. It provides two case studies, of the Moirai and the goddess Hera. The paper concludes that polytheism can be described if one conceptualises the complexity of the gods—their unity and diversity—together at every level (Panhellenic and local, cult and myths, and so on). [less ▲]

Besides being known for population overcrowding, prison staff strikes, and prisoner suicides or escapes, which are frequently reported by the press, prison might also be a place for rare innovative ... [more ▼]

Besides being known for population overcrowding, prison staff strikes, and prisoner suicides or escapes, which are frequently reported by the press, prison might also be a place for rare innovative projects. One such project can be seen in a penitentiary policy initiated in Belgium in 2000 aimed at re-shaping the culture of detention towards a culture of ‘restorative justice’. What can be said of this attempt at introducing the concepts of victim, restoration, responsibilization, sensitizing and awareness within prison walls? The present article proposes an illustrative and interpretive account of this prison policy. Rather than restoring the broken victim-offender relationship, its implementation has something to do with detainees working on their ‘self’. [less ▲]

Anthocyanins are colorants which provide most of the blue, red and violet colours in numerous plants and fruits. Because of their great sensitivity to the slightest changes in pH and their instability in ... [more ▼]

Anthocyanins are colorants which provide most of the blue, red and violet colours in numerous plants and fruits. Because of their great sensitivity to the slightest changes in pH and their instability in ordinary daylight, it is generally thought that these colorants were used only to dye everyday clothes in a domestic context. However, medieval artists’ recipe books not only describe these elusive substances, but also indicate their use in illumination. This is notably the case for the texts of the so-called ‘Strasbourg Tradition’, written in the south of Germany and the north of France between 1400 and 1560, and partly composed from an older Alsatian treatise on illumination. Departing from these sources, this paper details the methods employed to prepare these colorants and (re)evaluates their diverse uses in painting and illuminating techniques. This technical data subsequently served as a basis upon which to make reconstructions. Finally, an attempt to correlate the information provided by these recipe books with specific artistic practices was carried out by collating the descriptions with the results of analyses from contemporary illuminations by an Alsatian workshop active in the same geographical area. [less ▲]

Warm (1989) established the equivalence between the so-called Jeffreys modal and the weighted likelihood estimators of proficiency level with some dichotomous item response models. The purpose of this ... [more ▼]

Warm (1989) established the equivalence between the so-called Jeffreys modal and the weighted likelihood estimators of proficiency level with some dichotomous item response models. The purpose of this note is to extend this result to polytomous item response models. First, a general condition is derived to ensure the perfect equivalence between these two estimators. Second, it is shown that this condition is fulfilled by two broad classes of polytomous models including, among others, the partial credit, rating scale, graded response and nominal response models. [less ▲]

Production and purification of hydrophobin HFBII has recently been the subject of intensive research, but the yield of production needs to be further improved for a generic use of this molecule at ... [more ▼]

Production and purification of hydrophobin HFBII has recently been the subject of intensive research, but the yield of production needs to be further improved for a generic use of this molecule at industrial scale. In a first step, the influence of different carbon sources on the growth of Trichoderma reesei and the production of HFBII was investigated. The optimum productivity was obtained by using 40 g/L lactose. Carbon starvation and excretion of extracellular enzyme were determined as two main conditions for the production of HFBII. In the second phase, and according to the physiological mechanisms observed during the screening phase, a bioreactor set up has been designed and two modes of cultures have been investigated, i.e. the classical submerged fermentation and a fungal biofilm reactor. In this last set-up, the broth is continuously recirculated on a metal packing exhibiting a high specific surface. In this case, the fungal biomass was mainly attached to the metal packing, leading to a simplification of downstream processing scheme. More importantly, the HFBII concentration increased up to 48.6 ± 6.2 mg/L which was 1.8 times higher in this reactor configuration and faster than the submerged culture. X-ray tomography analysis shows that the biofilm overgrowth occurs when successive cultures are performed on the same packing. However, this phenomenon has no significant influence on the yield of HFBII, suggesting that this process could be operated in continuous mode. Protein hydrolysis during stationary phase was observed by MALDI-TOF analysis according to the removal of the last amino acid from the structure of HFBII after 48 h from the beginning of fermentation in biofilm reactor. Hopefully this modification does not lead to alternation of the main physicochemical properties of HFBII. [less ▲]